Options

Bubblers and skimmers Separating the sewerage system

We looked at a number of different ways to reduce the amount of untreated sewage that overflows into the River Thames from Londons largely 19th Century sewerage system. Other options have been assessed as costing more, being more disruptive and not achieving the required environmental standards.

Biological material in the sewage reduces the amount of oxygen in the river, which can kill large numbers of fish, so our two bubbler boats inject oxygen into the river helping fish survive sewage discharges. Our two skimmer boats skim off the surface litter that also gets into the river when the sewers overflow. The boats tackle the symptom, not the cause, and arent an effective, long-term solution. A substantial fleet would be required to keep up with the growing frequency of discharges. There are also severe limitations as to where these boats can go, due to tides and bridge heights.
Other services (gas, electricity, water, telecoms) Road drainage Roof drainage Domestic and commercial sewage (toilet, sink, shower, washing machine etc)

Separating the combined system would involve building a second pipe and making sure that all connections from buildings and roads are connected into the correct system. Initial estimates showed that the construction cost of a new foul sewerage system would be between 13bn and 20bn. The construction work would need to take place over several decades and the disruption to London would be enormous, requiring deep pipes to be constructed in almost every street. SUDS involve a variety of measures that reduce the amount of rainwater entering the sewerage system in the first place. They also slow down any rainwater that does enter the system. SUDS measures include green roofs (ie. grassed living roofs), soakaways, rainwater detention ponds, rainwater harvesting and grassy swales, but unfortunately they need a lot of space. The scale of SUDS that would be necessary in London is not practical or cost-effective, taking into account the extent of densely built development that already exists in the capital and the underlying geology.

Surface water sewer New foul sewer

Old pipe disconnected New pipe constructed

Sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS)

Storage and transfer tunnel

A storage and transfer tunnel is a simple and robust solution to prevent large volumes of sewage discharging into the River Thames. It will tackle discharges from the 34 most polluting CSOs and provide flexibility and much needed extra capacity, for at least a century.

www.thamestunnelconsultation.co.uk